Coach: Royals will not quit following rocky start

MATT BROWN @srpgmatt

Saturday

Sep 12, 2015 at 12:23 AMSep 12, 2015 at 1:16 AM

Coach Kent Smith said his Jay High School football team will not quit despite having 0-4 start this season. The Royals were handed their fourth loss on Friday night to Wewahitchka High School at Merle V. North Stadium.

Coach Kent Smith said his Jay High School football team will not quit despite having 0-4 start this season. The Royals were handed their fourth loss on Friday night to Wewahitchka High School at Merle V. North Stadium.

“We are not going to change a thing, we are going to keep doing what we are doing,” Smith said following Friday night’s 41-14 loss. “We are just going to try and get better.”

Smith said his team was riddled with injuries heading into the game against Wewahitchka, saying six players were unable to play in the match up.

The Royals had a dominating first half against the Wewahitchka Gators by scoring on two running touchdowns from Quarterback Victor Mishoe and holding the Gators to just two field goals before halftime. However, the second half was a different story. The Royal offense was kept out of the end zone, while the defense allowed the opposition to score five touchdowns during the second half of the game.

Smith believes his team’s mentality changed coming back from halftime.

“I think we lost confidence and when you do that, you quit doing what you were supposed to do,” he said.

Although the game did not end in the Royals favor, there were a few bright spots on both sides of the ball. In addition to keeping Wewahitchka from scoring a touchdown in the first half of the game, the defense also recovered two fumbles in the game.

While the Jay’s offense struggled in the passing, with only one completion for nine yards, the Royals did find success in running the football. Mishoe had a total of 239 yards in rushing and freshmen running back James Eddings had 92 rushing yards for the evening.

Royals will travel to West Gadsden High School for their next match up, scheduled for September 18, and return home to play Graceville High School the following Friday.